Jess

I loved this book. I feel like biblical fiction really gives me pause and makes me contemplate the stories in the Bible in different ways.

Hardly possible but this book seems to be even better upon re-reading it.

Breathtaking, sobering, and beautifully written. Is literary sci-fi a thing?

TENDER IS THE FLESH will blow your mind. WHERE DO I EVEN START. This book is dystopian horror to the nth degree and not for the faint of heart. Envision a world in which we no longer consume animal meat due to a virus, and instead we breed humans as “special meat.” Bazterrica is heavy-handed and gets very detailed about this gruesome new world, clearly making a statement about overpopulation, the meat industry, and what happens when we fool ourselves by using pretty language instead of calling a thing what it is. Despite the intensity and graphic nature of the plot, I had a hard time putting it down.

Content warnings: cannibalism, rape, experiments on non-consenting humans, suicide, infertility, death of a child, trafficking, animal harm and killings, graphic descriptions of EVERYTHING. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the digital ARC and opportunity to review early.

I wasn't even remotely interested in this book until recently, in dealing with grief, but the idea to pick it up came to me when I needed some comfort about the possibilities. I loved it.